To mark this year’s United Nations world innovation and creativity day celebration, a group known as Pistis Finserve is organizing an essay competition to advocate the need to embrace sustainable model and system in Nigeria.
The objective of this event, according to the organiser is to explore deeper thoughts and ideas on the top entries and their suitability to proffering solutions to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) challenges in the country.
Addressing a press conference Wednesday in Abuja, the group’s Managing Partner, Olufemi Adedipe, said to further drive conversation around SDGs, his group decided to take advocacy to the schools and the younger generation.
“We have concluded plans to organize an essay competition amongst high school students in Abuja which is of course our immediate environment (Charity they say begins at home). Every year, the world set out a day to celebrates innovation and creativity and we want to take advantage of this to get secondary school students to think about innovative ways to drive sustainability.
“This has become imperative because civilization and technology is threating human’s healthy living and existence. We also know that technology is at the same time empowering seamless living. We have found new easier and far more faster ways to do a whole lot of stuffs in a short period of time.
“Therefore, we must constantly seek new ways to ensuring that human civilization, technology and healthy living co-exist in such a way that the environment is sustained and our future guaranteed.
“As an organization that embraces sustainable model and systems, we believe that everyone should be concerned about the safety of our environment and ultimately the human lives, and we have constantly advocated for this.”
Speaking on the project objectives, Adedipe said it is part of plans to build an exciting platform for school kids ages 10-16 in Abuja to leverage on their creative prowess to generate, create and write an original innovative, sustainable model that supports and proffers solutions to any of the UN SDGs.
Bring together exceptional school children who are very innovative and gifted under a platform to provide acceleration and mentoring for them.
“Breed deeper levels of interaction amongst participants to enhance cultural tolerance for nation building and intra-generational learning.”
The organisation, however, revealed that the top three candidates will get an award plaque while their schools get 50% of their cash prizes.
“The grand finale will be a two-hour event where invited schools and their representatives, media outfits, UN representatives, government officials from the ministries of education, science and technology will also be in attendance.”
